New Obsessions

I can hardly believe it, but after nearly 3 years of a love affair with the greatest Tank Engine on Earth, we might be moving on. I know, I know...this is crazy!!! Don't get me wrong, 90% of our day is still spent playing with, talking about, watching and reading about Thomas and Friends, but the other 10% is now being devoted to a new love. And it's awesome. Mostly. The new obsession in Luigi's life is...(drumroll please...) PUZZLES! And, I have to tell you, the kid is a GENIUS at them!

It started with a Thomas puzzle that he got for Christmas. It is one of those gigantic floor puzzles that has 30 pieces. He asked for help with it. I told him to get the pieces out and get ready and I would help him when I was done folding the load of laundry. By the time I got back into the living room, he had done 3/4 of the puzzle all by himself. What? I looked at Bowser and said, "That was nice of you to help him!" He stared back at me blankly and said, "Help who with what?" I looked at Luigi and asked him if he started it all by himself and he said, "Yeah, Mommy! It's a lot of hard work!"

Ok, so it wasn't a 5,000 minuscule piece puzzle, but hey, it was the first time he had ever even looked at it. I must say, I was pretty impressed. And my sweet baby was so proud of himself. He made everyone in the house come look at his masterpiece. Then he tore it apart and did it all over again.

The next puzzle was a dinosaur one I found from when Mario was smaller that was never even opened. We got it out, spread out the pieces and with the tiniest bit of help from me, he had it finished in 20 minutes. Then at Grandma Bowser's house, he finished--get this--a 60 piece puzzle, with regular size pieces, all by himself! Grandma Bowser said she didn't help at all! Holy cow, this kid is a puzzle maniac!

Yes, I realize I am bragging just a little bit, but come on... How many 3-year-olds do you know that can put together a puzzle like that? Not many! I tried to get Mario interested in them a long time ago, but it just wasn't his thing. Luckily I have a few stored back that my little Einstein can open and put together.

I only have one small issue with this latest fixation. There are puzzle pieces EVERYWHERE! I am desperately trying to keep track of which pieces go with which puzzle. As of right now, they are all fairly easy to figure out what is what, but I think I will be marking the backs with different colors or shapes very soon. And those little buggers can hide in the weirdest places. I find them under the couch, in the bathroom, scattered around the kitchen, and I even found one in the dryer yesterday. Interesting...

Some other new obsessions in our house...

~Bowser has a new crush. It is his new phone. He got a Droid and he loves it. He has spent hours updating it, adding apps, and playing games. I think I am actually getting a little jealous of the time he is spending with it.

~Mario is still in the afterglow of the Packers' Super Bowl win. I think I know just about every single stat about the team and his favorite player. I have to wash his 3 Packers shirts over and over again, because that is all he wants to wear when he isn't in his school uniform.

~Peach... Well, little Miss Peach is still infatuated with Disney Princesses. And biting me to get my attention. I have these little welts all over my thigh because she will walk up and nip me on the leg and get that tiny bit of skin that hurts so bad! Then she bats her little eyes at me and says, "I MISS you, Mommy!" As if that is going to save her from time out. Grrr... This girl is gonna turn me gray before I'm 35.

And now, it is time for me to go help with another puzzle and avoid Peach's chompers.

Cheers!
~Daisy